Timothy Besley is one of the world’s most eminent scholars on the political economy of development. He is the School Professor of Economics and Political Science, and W Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics, at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). From September 2006 to August 2009, he served as an external member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, and since 2015 has been a member of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission. From 2014-17, he was President of the International Economic Association, and in 2018, he will serve as the President of the Econometric Society. His research focuses on development economics, public economics and political economy.